The Halifax Shipyard is testing steel cutting methods as the first new destroyer, expected in 2035

HALIFAX — The Irving Shipyard is testing methods to cut steel for Canada’s new destroyers, though the Navy says it will be about a decade before the first ship is deployed in military operations.

Defense Minister Bill Blair stood before hundreds of stalwart Halifax shipbuilders on Friday and also announced that the 15 upcoming warships have been officially designated as River-class destroyers. They are named in honor of Canadian warships that rose to prominence during World War II, and the waterways that lead to Canada’s shores.

However, the first ships, complete with missile systems and state-of-the-art radar, will not be commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy until 2035. There are expected to be nine destroyers by 2040 and all 15 by 2050, officials said during a briefing Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, the formal construction contracts have not yet been signed and a final design is still being worked on.

Blair nevertheless praised the early stages of construction as ‘historic’, while noting the urgency of building the destroyers.

“It is important that we replace the Halifax frigates,” he said. “They are reaching the end of their life cycle and it is becoming increasingly expensive to maintain them.”

Dave Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute in Ottawa, said he is pleased to see the project making some progress after years of delays.

“These ships will represent a really significant expansion of Canada’s naval capabilities,” he said in an interview Thursday, adding that they will improve the country’s ability to conduct any form of submarine warfare and to participate in the NATO naval task forces.

But he also said the contracts must be signed before the next federal election to avoid further delays. “This government is running out of time and there is still a lot of unfinished business,” he said.

Blair said Friday he expects the deal to be completed while the Liberal government remains in power.

“Both the Royal Canadian Navy and the Irving shipyard need that contract. I’m confident we can get it done before the election,” the Liberal cabinet minister said.

Inflation and the additional demands of the Navy have driven up the cost of the destroyers. While Blair and defense officials continued to claim that construction would cost $60 billion, the Parliamentary Budget Officer suggested in 2022 that it could be as much as $80 billion.

Vice Admiral Angus Topshee said Friday in Halifax that the Canadian ships, which are based on the BAE Type 26 design used in the United Kingdom and Australia, are heavier than their counterparts because of design changes.

The Navy commander said the River-class destroyers have radar – considered the heart of the modern warship – located higher in the ship than those of its Australian and British counterparts. This required the associated power, cooling and other supporting machines, which added 900 tons of weight.

Topshee also said that while the Australian and British Type 26 ships are primarily intended as anti-submarine escorts, the River class is expected to defend against air attack and potentially provide command and control over other ships.

On Friday, the Halifax Shipyard began producing and testing so-called “thin steel” plates, which will eventually be used in the destroyers. The steel is less thick than the materials of the Arctic patrol vessels under construction at the shipyard. Topshee told reporters that actual production of steel to be used in the first destroyer to be built – HMCS Fraser – will begin between April and October 2025.

Conservative Party defense critic James Bezan said in an email that the project timeline is a reminder that the Liberals have neglected the armed forces. The Liberal government “has failed to recruit enough sailors…our warships are rusting and aging faster than expected, leaving our navy incapacitated,” he wrote.

Richard Shimooka, a researcher at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, said in an interview Thursday that while the navy is in dire need of new ships, its production schedule is not behind that of other countries building similar ships.

“We all wish the time frame was shorter, but it’s probably going to take so long… It’s hard to see other options to get something faster,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2024.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press